By Mikey Eckstein

Certainly you've come across Commander Brown on social Media. But your safety is no laughing matter. We recently sat down with Commander Brown. Here is a part of that conversation:

1. Where did the name D.U.S.T come from?
It’s an acronym of Detroit Urban Survival Training, and I use acronym’s for many things- as a result of being an Airborne Paratrooper in the United States Military.

I was encouraged to use the name D.U.S.T. by my student, Paige Erlich, who has a successful video production company in Metro Detroit. At first, I didn’t want to use the acronym because of the negative connection to ‘’dust’’ and ‘’dirt’’ lol- but after her encouragement, I agreed that it would be very memorable to use D.U.S.T. - since we are all made out of dust and attackers will get dusted! LOL

2. You have had several celebrity encounters over the last year. What are some of the most memorable?
The most memorable celebrity encounters have been Snoop Dog, Rick Ross, Grant Hill, Barry Sanders, Khabib, Dj Khaled and THE MOST amazing moment was walking into the UFC Apex Octagon with a Pro MMA fighter, Joaquin Buckley in February 2022. What made it so amazing was the crowd cheered when I walked out with him, and he said it was the first time the crowd cheered for him and he was very happy!

3. What form of training or martial arts did you start in and at what age?
Martial arts by definition means military way so I will explain how I learned the ways of the military. I began shooting the M-16, A1 formally being trained at age 6 by my mother, who was a captain in the army, a firearms instructor and a firearms competitor.

I started American freestyle wrestling at age 8, and Tae Kwon Do Chung Do Kwon at age 12. At age 14, I learned U.S. Military hand to hand combat at Massaunutten Military Academy trained by active duty US Army NCO’s that served in Vietnam.

At age 17, I learned American kickboxing in West Germany taught by US Military Soldiers. At age 18 I studied Hapkido in Germany taught by American Army Veteran, and I also trained with Ansbach West Germany American Combat Pistol Team. At age 19, I learned Tai Jutsu at University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. At age 20, I learned US Army hand to hand in Ft. Leonardwood, Missouri. At age 22, I studied Kyokushin, Aikido, and at age 24 Isshin-ryū, Chin Na and Judo. At age 25, Pencak Silat and Tamerrian Institute African Martial Arts. At age 27, I graduated from the Executive Protection Institute as a Personal Protection Specialist and I became a NRA certified instructor of 5 disciplines.

4. Where is your training facility located and what can people expect to learn there?
Our facility is located at 23440 Woodward Ave Ferndale, MI 48220 and participants will learn how to create peace for themselves, their families, and others in the most peaceful way possible.

Participants will learn psychology- so they can understand predatory human behavior. They will learn how to legally defend themselves, and decrease the likelihood of prosecution, while simultaneously reducing potential for lawsuits. They will also learn tactics that will enable them to escape, control, or immobilize threats within 3 moves or less.

Most importantly, the participants are learning the only training system that is designed to adapt to the student. Our training system is the only system in the United States, that uses empirical results gained though heuristics, in real world force on force conflict with violent individuals and gangs.

In other words, through violent experiences we learned what techniques worked, and which did not- through bloodshed. The results of our experience makes our training system the best system for every man, woman, and child who wants to increase their Survivability, avoid violence, lawsuits, prosecution and deaths associated with defending themselves and others.

5. What’s are the future plans for your company?
The future plans for our company are to make the world a safer place through non-violence by franchising our schools- globally, and providing online learning opportunities- internationally through video learning trees, augmented reality and virtual reality educational platforms.

6. Tell us Metro Detroiters 3 of your favorite Detroit area restaurants?
Me and my wife’s favorite Detroit area restaurants are, Eddie Merlots, Balkan House and Steve’s Soul Food.

7. Tell us 3 of your favorite Detroit music artists?
My three favorite Detroit Music Artist are Big Sean, Eminem, and Tee Grizzley.

8. Were you shocked by your popularity online?
Absolutely, totally taken by surprise. It was my wife’s idea to go on TikTok and her strategies, creativity and ingenuity related to analytics that were essential in my virality.

9. Do you have any aspirations in the entertainment industry?
Yes, my goal is to show our unique tactics through movie choreography, creating a TV show and a movie about our organization- which would feature amazing, real life stories of saving lives and protecting people from violent individuals and gangs.

10. Tell us 3 basic ways to stay safe?
The three basic ways to stay safe are be aware of your surroundings, avoid conflicts and resolve any threat conditions that occur using the least amount of force and violence.